Boxing Day saw young entrepreneur Johnson Runuya witness his dream come true when he served his delicious cakes and pastries to over 300 kids as a way of spreading Christmas love and delight to those in need. When he was starting out his bakery ‘Johnson The Baker’ a few years ago, he held this dream of one day serving disadvantaged kids and see them enjoy without the worry of whether they could afford the treat or not. Everyone deserves to be happy, especially on Christmas, Runuya says. The kids, most of whom were street kids and orphans, were treated to delicious cakes and pastries at a small event titled ‘Christmas for everyone’ that was held at Gisimba village, Kigali. One of the kids, Light Mwiza Munyazikwiye says she was very happy and glad that someone would think of them and decide to offer them such a beautiful gift for Christmas. “We are so happy because they remembered us. Even though I don’t stay with my parents, I am glad I got a chance to also celebrate. The cakes were so sweet,” she says. For young Milka Uwimbabazi, the event became a source of inspiration. She was curious and wanted to know how the cakes were made. “I will come to visit and learn how cakes are made. The event was so good and cakes were very delicious, we appreciate a lot the kind gesture,” Uwimbabazi says. Runuya says even though December, as always, is a busy month for them; he had to spare time to work on this special offering for the kids. And for this, he appreciates his team for the hard work and ensuring the event was a success. “I would like to thank my team that was willing to work extra hours to bake those cupcakes, we already had too many orders for Christmas but they were ready to bake the extra for it to happen.” He says that although they are still a small business and do not have a significant budget for corporate social responsibility, he believed with the little means they have they could make Christmas amazing for these kids. “With Christmas, we want to see everyone happy. But we have realised that many kids don’t have the chance to celebrate since some don’t have parents, and those who do, many of them don’t have the means to buy a cake or a cupcake for their kids on Christmas. So we thought of getting in touch with those kids and work on making their Christmas memorable as well with the little means we had, as we believe Christmas is for everyone and everyone should smile on Christmas,” the young entrepreneur says. The kids were so happy; we saw kids smiling, they were singing, laughing and they all wanted to greet us, Runuya reflects, adding that they would have loved it to be a bit bigger than that but due to COVID-19, they had to be careful with the restrictions and hence couldn’t get in touch with as many kids as they wished. “But we hope that next year, this Christmas program will reach out to even more kids, even those out of Kigali and have them enjoy our cakes and slices of pastries.” Runuya goes on to thank his customers for making this contribution happen. “If we were able to bake cupcakes for all those kids, it’s because of the customers who choose us every day. It’s all because of them. We also thank Gisimba village for giving us the opportunity to share the cupcakes with the kids.”
